2/10 Charlie AMPS 281 + 5 68 PMPS 321 +4.75 42 +5 253

[charliesmom]

Hi friends,

I've been away from the board for some time. Sorry for that. I was in Chicago for a month for Christmas and since my return, I've been focused on my job hunt since I finished up my job as of Feb 1. Sorry I didn't give news sooner, but I know that you are busy with MANY other people and their cats, so I figured I would update you just as soon as I could. Then I just forgot, as I've been out of habit of being online every day I suppose. Again, sorry for that. I wasn't trying to be impolite. Just have a lot on my mind with the job loss, and need to put my focus there right now.

Here's the latest status update on charlie girl:

Everything went well over the holidays in Chicago, except that foolishly, I didn't keep proper paper records since I forgot to bring Charlie's book back to Chicago with me. Stupidly, I thought I could overcome this by just keeping everything stored in my testing machine. Later upon my return to Amsterdam, as I went to entire the figures from her test machine into the excelsheet, I realized how dumb this was of me. Time zone differences made it tricky to figure out which time zones were which, and I wasn't clear which days I had made dose increases and decreases. DUH! Generally, she received between .75 and .5 units while in Chicago. She went low 1 time on the .75, and then I decreased her to .5 units. About a week after that we had to increase again since the .75 wasn't having enough of an effect.

I'm back in Amsterdam, and seeing more nights of drama with Charlie going low. Tonight is the 5th time she has crashed in 2 months, so I realize that I am in need of the board again. I am still not clear on what food in Amsterdam constitutes HC. I have bought the only food I thought might be close (with gravy) and it didn't seem to work well to bring her numbers up. So now I'm back to that food + maple syrup (for crisis moments) or else whatever I have around the house + maple syrup (NOT IDEAL, I realize).

I think I could use some input. Charlie is now at what we THINK is .25 (so hard to tell between .5 and .25)
However, she's not in all greens like some cats who start to move down into the lower numbers so I wonder if I'm doing something wrong, or if it's possible that she's just not able to get regulated still. Probably a bit of both.

Tonight, she crashed again. Wondering if you have any tips for how we should proceed from here? Lower her to nothing tomorrow morning?

Sincerely,
Tired in Amsterdam (Jill)

 

[Deborah & Shasta]

Hello Jill!!! Nice to hear from you, again and glad to see that Charlie is doing well (despite the lower numbers). I can only imagine how crazy it is/was to try to decipher the BG numbers from time zone to time zone. I hate that you're having trouble finding reliable food for Charlie over there. I'm sure you've tried and there may be sanctions on this, but have you/can you order cat food online?! I guess at that point you would want to know that it would actually work for Charlie. If not, it's just wasted $. hmmm... I wish I had better answers. :sad: And sorry, no dosing advice from me...still too new at all of this. Hope someone has some answers/help for you. Just happy to get a little update from you guys! Hope Charlie let you get a little sleep. Blessings!

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Hi Jill

Glad you and Charlie are back!

IMHO, you are seeing Charlie bounce like this because she's diving. If you look at Sienne's Gabbys SS, you'll see that Gabby had the propensity to dive and Sienne tests early and slows the dive. I've had the same issue with Gracie on occasion and if I don't catch her early and control the dive, she bounces harder.

I think you need to be testing at +2 as much as possible and using that to give you an idea of what she might do and how proactive you need to be. I also don't know what kind of feeding schedule you have her on but a cat that dives like this usually benefits from food management to flatten the curve.

Feed the curve---> flatten the curve---> adjust the dose

So if you frontload her feeding and be sure you are feeding more than just 0-1% carbs, you could slow or stop those dives and flatten out the cycles. Many people feed at PS, +1, +2, +3 and I think it's a good idea to put most of the food in the first two feedings.

So..figure out how much food she gets per cycle, divide it up, feed early in the cycle. Unless you flatten that cycle and control the drop, she's going to keep bouncing.

 

[charliesmom]

Hi Marje,

Charlie is definitely a diver. Sienne had suggested previously that we test earlier. This has been helpful to us (when we've been able to do so and not already at work). There have been a few occasions where I caught the dive.

We will now start testing at +2 more frequently. For the time being, I am at home as I look for a new job, so I can test at that time without a problem for the most part. We have done some food management, in terms of feeding very strict amounts (50 grams LC) at 4 very specific times during the day (AMPS, +6, PMPS, +6). We still haven't found the perfect food yet, but this past month we have fed her "Felix adult" which I BELIEVE is very low carb (0-2%?)

I think we would find it very difficult to feed at PS, +1, +2, and +3. Normally we are both working by +1 and not home until PMPS. We do have an electronic feeder though, so we could theoretically try it. Just not sure how to adjust the food to do so? Feed a higher carb food and give more insulin? Stay with the same food but feed an MC food at +3?

I'm also wondering if a switch to levemir might help flatten the curve? I'm not sure I can find that in the Netherlands, but I have read that some cats have more success flattening curves with that type. Thoughts? I'll also post this question to today's thread.

Thanks for the warm welcome back. I will not be able to post daily but will post as frequently as possible, given my current full focus on the job search.

All the best,
Jill

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Hi, Jill! Welcome back.

One consideration is whether you can shift your shot time a little earlier so you can get an additional test or two in during the AM cycle. If that's not possible, then leaving food out is the way to go. What carb level you leave out depends on what the numbers tell you. I typically leave out LC food in my feeder.

Using LC + maple syrup is fine. You may want to use either honey or corn syrup if Charlie likes either of those. The corn syrup has a high glycemic index and works pretty quickly. I use either honey or corn syrup to steer Gabby's numbers since the gluten in gravy upsets Gabby's stomach.